Winning Poems

If You're a Poet, We Want to Know it! 2019 Volume 7 - Together 

Winning Poems

1st Place—Child Category

Together - a poem about me and my mum

You and me together,

We will never be apart.

 

Together we will be,

Like from the very start.

Zachary Gibson 

Judges' comments: “A poem about love. And a lovely Mum. Absolutely delightful. And a very special, sensitive young writer.

“Honest, warm, heartfelt truth”

 

2nd Place—Child Category

Fish In A Tree Poem

Fish in a tree, Fish in a tree, please share with me,

A tale of Ally who can’t read, and Shay, with undesirable greed.

Mr. Daniels with his kind heart, and Albert, who is very smart.

Keisha has baking skills, while Ally’s dad does military drills.

Jessica, oh she loves her friend, why, the characters just never end.

When she thought her brain was just a mess, she turned out to be good at chess.

With Mr. Daniels and her friends hope, she might even learn to cope.

As her tests were now fun and games, Ally’s life was no longer rain.

Ailie Ironside  

Judges' comments: “I was so impressed with Fish in a tree- I loved its superb use of words and mixture of everything. Emotion, kindness, friendship. Poetry should make you think about different things and give itself to interpretation, which this does so well, also beautiful to read out-loud. Loved it, a true writer here”

“Witty, clever with excellent pace”

3rd Place—Child Category

A Letter to Mr Fluffy

I miss you when I’m in school.

I’m happy to bring you to holidays.

You sound weird and I laugh.

I’m glad I met you when you were just a little pup.

Now you’re a grown dog,

Oh Mr Fluffy, I don’t know why you fart in the tub.

We play silly games and hero adventures.

I love to cuddle you. To me, you are real.

You’re my best toy friend in the world.

Oh Mr Fluffy, I wish we grow old together.

Kal-El  Martinez 

Judges' comments: “Warm and funny and a classic tale of the love of a childhood joy”

“A heart warming & childhood poem. Completely smile evoking:

 

1st Place—Teen Category

Euphoria

The serendipity of abandoning all he'd known

These friends he'd met, oh how they'd grown

Together they'd been for years to mend

Their broken souls, but it came to an end

Two found themselves victim to their own form of harm

Two bravely fought, now found behind bars

Two drowning in tears in hospital gowns

One left by himself, without the family he'd known

But he'll mend the past and save their past euphoria

And they'll be together forever in their home in utopia

Tae Tae Lemana

Judges' comments: “We love the imaginary & the story-telling in this poem”

 

2nd Place—Teen Category

Not so together

I trip, fall and scrape my knee

I'm fine, just wish my whole class wasn't there to see.

I turn up to school soaking wet

Broken umbrella and teacher upset, honestly, how much worse could it get.

I climb a tree and forget i'm wearing a skirt

fall head first, ow that really hurt!

Sometimes you don't have it all together, my Mother might say,

but in tough situations you always find a way.

Olivia Groube

Judges' comments: “Like the take on the theme, we could relate to the feeling of being not so together. Plus it made us smile”

3rd Place—Teen Category

To be together

To be together

It is to disregard division

It is to riot against evil

It is to kneel down to give aid

It is to be polite

It is to be civil

But mostly it is to be Human

Iain Scotcher

Judges' comments: “Liked the message & the simplicity of the form”

 

1st Place—Adult Category 

We wake together

As Ranginui rubs celestial dust from his eyes,

stars are silently flashing.

The night, noisy with the sounds,

listening to Tangaroa roar.

Waves, crashing on the shore,

racing to embrace the coral.

Papatanuku wakes from her sweet repose.

 

It is you my brother,

hanging motionless in repose, we wake together.

M. Morris-Denize

Judges' comments: The use of Māori mythology combined with a sensitive observation of the natural world and the way the theme is embodied make for a unique, quality poem.

There is also a strong sense of sound through the choice of words. This gives the poem a feeling of life and movement.

2nd Place—Adult Category

Baking

I perch on a high stool in Nanna's ribbon kitchen,

my red throne in her empire. She measures in palms

and carefree glances. Sugar and flour dunes rise

in a Pyrex ocean. Butter pebbles scattered on top stick

to fingertips like wet sand. There is no elbow room.

We rub shoulders crumbling ingredients together

and she whispers a secret - she never uses that jug

my mother bought her, with its red ladder of metric.

Nanna's jug is blue, polished stoneware, milk etched

in white script. She fills it to a pint, and lets me pour.

Trish Veltman

Judges' comments: A charming picture of a lucky child baking with her grandmother, with seaside imagery and a clever twist at the end.

It’s a lovely representation of the relationship between grandmother and grandchild.

3rd Place—Adult Category

A Nod

There’s something beautiful,

About the simple exchange of a nod between motorcyclists 

A nod of acknowledgement

Of, we share this road

We are equals

This simple exchange of,

You are not better than me

But the softest yin and yang,

Opposite directions

Paige Bolland

Judges' comments: An unusual subject – motorcyclists riding in opposite directions but still acknowledging one another --- reminds the reader of the many ways we can experience togetherness. We also get an observation that while we might be experiencing something together, we’re all headed toward our own individual destinations.

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